Yard Sale!

This morning I woke up at 5:20, threw on some clothes, put my hair in a ponytail, and drove through the thick fog to school for our yard sale. We met at 6 am and finished setting up, and the first customers started trickling in soon after. I knew some people were hard core yard salers, but that's so early!

The entire sale was by donation, so people could name their own prices for what they were buying. Some people even gave extra when they heard the money was going for a mission trip. When I left at 10 am, we were giving people bags and charging them $5 for whatever they could fit into it to try and get rid of the stuff! There was so much it looked like we'd barely dented it.

Since we used the school cafeteria and all of the items were donated, 100% of the proceeds will go towards supplies for the trip. I haven't heard a final total yet, but with the generosity of the people in our community my hopes are high for a good total!

Yard Sale Prep

This afternoon and evening we started set up for our yard sale tomorrow. This yard sale is the second of our two major fundraisers, the first being a dinner we hosted at our school last week. There we served authentic Costa Rican food such as chicken and rice, black beans, and tres leches cake. People were so generous, and we made quite a bit of money!

We had so much stuff tonight. We originally planned to only use the back half of our cafeteria, but ended up having to use the front half as well, and the place was still overflowing! People from school and the mission team all brought stuff, and we had housewares, books, movies, clothes, and all sorts of odds and ends.

I personally will only be able to work part of the sale tomorrow, but I'm hoping that we will be able to make a lot of money. The money from these fundraisers doesn't help those of us going, rather, it helps fund our projects while down there and helps the people of Costa Rica.

Here's to early morning shopping!

Getting Approved!

This afternoon I headed to my local Girl Scout headquarters and sat for my interview to get my project approved. I was super nervous, but it went really well! The ladies made me feel comfortable and we talked easily. Since this is my first post, I'll give you a brief run down of my project:

There is an orphanage in La Fortuna, Costa Rica that is unique from most orphanages in that they take kids from dangerous home situations - often abuse - and give them a loving, nurturing home. For my Gold Award project, I will be assisting the orphanage in their mission by making pillow cases, blankets, and teddy bears for the children in the orphanage. There is typically about 15-20 kids in the orphanage, but I plan to make extras for kids that arrive in the future.

I will be going to Costa Rica with a group of students and adults from my school and my Spanish teacher's church, and we will be doing work all throughout the community, from the church to the senior center to the orphanage. It's going to be a such a great experience, and I can't wait to get started with my project!